1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to harvesting energy, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for harvesting energy in an electronic device.
2. Background
Mobile electronic devices generally use a battery, which can typically supply power for only a few hours at a time based on the capacity of the battery and the usage of the mobile electronic device. Accordingly, there has been a substantial effort toward the development of techniques for reducing power consumption of the electronic components in the mobile electronic devices. However, as the demand for performance from the electronic components in such mobile electronic devices continues to increase, a substantial amount of thermal energy, i.e., heat, is generated by the electronic components despite the techniques for reducing power consumption.
For example, there is an increasing demand for advanced features and performance in specific areas, such as modems, multimedia, and high speed serial interfaces. To support such advanced features, mobile, applications, media, and modem processor integrated circuits (ICs) are now being designed to include multiple central processing unit (CPU) cores. For example, the power consumption of a Krait CPU core is estimated at 1 watt (W). For quad Krait CPU cores, the estimated power consumption will increase linearly to 4 W if used concurrently. A substantial amount of resources have been allocated to reduce or minimize thermal impacts that may result from the increase of device temperatures as operating power consumption increases.
However, if such thermal energy generated by an electronic component may be converted to electrical energy, the mobile electronic devices will be able to support more advanced features and longer standby times. In addition, engineering efforts for reducing power consumption of the electronic components in the mobile electronic devices may be directed toward other areas in need of development.